The eyes never lie. No it’s not the lyrics to a song, its the typically fool-proof test police officers administer to drivers suspected of being under the influence.

Russellville police officers told members of Citizens Police Academy during Tuesday night’s session about DWI detection, that often times, someone who is a steady drinker might be able to perform the Walk and Turn detection test and the One Leg detection test, but that the eyes never lie during the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test.

Most of the class had seen videos from police shows or fictional television series in which a sobriety test was administered. The standard image that comes to mind is generally one with a subject walking a straight line or alternately touching finger to nose.

Neither of which is really the standard law enforcement actually use.

An officer with the RPD and agent for the Fifth Judicial Drug Task Force (DTF) instructed the cadets in a condensed version of what law enforcement officers learn during DWI detection courses.

First, each officer administers the same three tests in the exact same order each time to ensure accuracy. It might sound easy, but learning the exact terminology was tricky Tuesday night. Also, learning to relax and have steady, fluid motion when administering the HGN test was crucial. A jerky finger equals a jerky eye path for the subject to follow.

The first test is the HGN, or vision test, in which the subject follows the officer’s finger from left to right and back again. The test is administered three different ways to test involuntary jerking or bouncing of the eyeball that occurs when a subject is impaired.

After the HGN is administered, the officer then explains the Walk and Turn. Without giving out the details (wouldn’t want anyone practicing at home), the officer demonstrates what is expected, seeks verbal confirmation from the subject and then the test begins.

The Walk and Turn tests the psychophysical capabilities of the suspected impaired subject. The subject has to understand, follow instructions and maintain balance and coordination.

The final test is the One Leg Stand, which is fairly self explanatory. The subject still must be alert enough to follow instructions and then physically able to perform the test.

A BAC of .08 is legally intoxicated in the state of Arkansas. If a subject registers four clues during the HGN (remember each eye is tested twice, three different ways), then the subject’s blood alcohol should register at .08. Two clues during either the Walk and Turn, or One Leg Stand equals .08 BAC.

To further allow the cadets to understand the affects of alcohol and the difficulty of performing the tests, eight test subjects volunteered to consume alcohol for the citizens police academy.

The subjects consumed different amounts of alcohol and then were administered a BAC 10 minutes after they finished drinking. Then, pairs of cadets and RPD officers administered the three standardized field sobriety tests.

Each pair evaluated the subject and estimated the BAC level.

The results were surprising. The estimates for the eight subjects ranged from .04 to .18.

The eight actual BACs ranged from .07 and .10 at the beginning of the night to .05 to .10 by the end of the evening. Several of the “volunteers” registered the same at the beginning and end, some registered higher, and one almost decreased by half.

The five male and three female volunteers were in their early 20s.

One subject appeared to be at least twice the legal limit, but only registered .10 BAC. Even the veteran officers expected her to register much higher. Her speech was slurred, her eyes jerked and she didn’t finish either the Walk and Turn or One Leg Stand tests.

There were other subjects who performed just the opposite. One female, who was athletic, only failed the HGN test and even then the jerkiness of her eyes was more easily detected by the veteran officers. She passed both the Walk and Turn and One Leg Stand with cadets and officers. Her BAC was .09 at the beginning and .08 at the end of the evening.

I am a certified Standardized Field Sobriety Test Instructor under the standards of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's standards - the agency that adopted that developed and adopted the HGN test. This article is totally misleading and the statement that the 'eyes never lie' is blatantly false. First, there are at least 125 reported causes for nystagmus other than alcohol - put another way, that would be 125 reasons why the eye 'lies'. Second, NHTSA recognizes that the test, even when properly administered, is only accurate 77% percent of the time.

I am also an author in this field, having written the chapter on 'Nystagmus Testing' for the nationally recognized treatise entitled 'Intoxication Test Evidence' edited by Fitzgerald.

It is the duty of a newspaper to report only the truth, and to correct mistruths when they are informed as such. Please follow up with the police and find out why they are misleading their citizens.